Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to electrical contacts that provide electrical coupling with cordless electrical devices.
Description of the Related Art
In mobile machine-readable symbol readers or other battery-operated devices, the battery may need to be charged often (e.g., daily). Conventionally, this task is performed by placing the reader on a charging cradle or base station in order to provide energy to the battery when the reader is placed on the charging cradle. The charging cradle may also function as a receiving system for data sent by the reader (e.g., wirelessly) relating to symbols read by the reader, and/or as a sending system that sends data or instructions to the reader (e.g., from a remote processor-based device).
The current utilized to supply the battery is sent to the reader through electrical contacts both on the cradle and on the reader. Normally, the contacts on the cradle are simple contacts that are spring loaded to extend into a cavity or recess of the cradle. When a user places a reader on the charging cradle, the spring-loaded contacts on the cradle are pressed into contact with the electrical contacts of the reader under the weight of the reader to provide an electrical connection. In some implementations, the reader and the cradle may have electrical contacts used for data transfer between the two devices in addition to the electrical contacts utilized to supply current to the battery of the reader.
A problem with the aforementioned approach is that the contacts of the charging cradle may wear out or break over time with repeated use. Additionally, the contacts may cause wear on the enclosure of the reader due to friction between the reader and the electrical contacts of the cradle that occurs during repeated use (e.g., multiple times per day for an extended period of time).
Over time, the force of the spring coupled to the contacts of the cradle may be reduced, which may lead to failure or poor contact between the contacts on the cradle and the contacts on the reader. Additionally, light weight readers may fail to apply sufficient pressure to the contacts of the cradle, causing unreliable electrical connections.